The Secret Letter by Roger Hayden

Author:Roger Hayden [Hayden, Roger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Published: 2017-05-28T23:00:00+00:00

Alibi

They soon arrived at a small two-story apartment complex surrounded by a chain-link fence, with several mailboxes and empty trash cans in front. The doors of each unit had numbers on them. The building itself looked old and rundown with gray paint chipped and fading, the neglected roof needing repair. Dobson parked on the side of the two-lane cracked pavement street, half in the grass and a few feet from the side of the fence surrounding the property. He was eager to look at the yearbook and see the picture of Victoria Owens.

It was the only complex the street, surrounded by single-family homes lining both sides of what seemed like a quiet neighborhood. A man wearing baggy clothes and a skull cap walked the sidewalk ahead of them toward a bus stop. He stopped at a wooden bench and then looked around, taking no notice of them.

There wasn’t a single resident outside of the complex, and drawn curtains covered the windows of most units, as though no one was home, or if they were, they were hiding. It was still afternoon, and Gordon could be at work for all they knew. Or he could have skipped town already, feeling the heat, guilty or not.

Sterling handed him the yearbook with a sticky note marking Victoria Harmon’s page. He looked down, examining it. Her eyes were half open, and an airy smile exposed large front teeth. Her hair was tied back in a bun and she was wearing a sleeveless top. She looked happy, like most all the other kids.

“Someone just walked outside,” Sterling said, pointing toward the apartments.

Dobson looked up and saw an elderly woman outside the building, walking a small terrier on a leash. “Perfect,” he said. “Let’s see what she knows.”

He opened his door and yanked the keys from the ignition, adjusting his tie as he stood. Sterling got out and placed a dark blue ball cap on her head.

“What’s with the hat?” he asked.

“Trying to look inconspicuous,” she said.

Dobson shrugged as they continued onto the sidewalk and through the opening in the fence, just wide enough for a car to drive through, onto the dirt path leading to the joint parking area. The elderly woman turned and moved away from them, leading her terrier into a patch of overgrown grass.

Dobson eyed the windows of both floors as they grew closer. No one was looking out just yet. The woman suddenly turned as their shoes crunched against a bed of pebbles, announcing their approach.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Dobson said with a wave. “Could we talk with you for a minute?”

Her dog pulled against its leash as she stood there and studied them with suspicion. Her cheeks sagged with her frown as her large, glassy blue eyes stared at them, unblinking.

“My name is Detective Dobson,” he continued, quickly displaying his badge. He then held his arms to his sides in a relaxed, non-threatening way. “And this is my partner, Detective Sterling. How are you doing this afternoon?”

The curly-haired woman stared at him with an embittered silence.

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